This past week I traveled with 65 middle schoolers to ReCreation Ministries in Asheville, NC where we participated in missions by sharing the love of Christ through home repair. We painted, dug septic lines, roofed, and grew closer as a group and to God as we washed each other's feet, had dance parties on the bus, and shared life with each other for a week.

As I returned and thought about our time there I was reminded of two verses:

The first provides a basic principle of how we should love:
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." - John 15:12

The second goes on to explain how God loved us:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16

Throughout the trip we tried to show this universal love to the widow whose house we were working on, the staff at ReCreation, and all others that we encountered. And as we looked around to see how God was working in our lives, we continually witnessed God's universal and self-sacrificing love being revealed to us through these same people.

As I approached the final turn before reaching Campbellton UMC, the church where I would be preaching for the first time in my life, traffic slowed to a crawl.  I didn't really have time for this delay since it was getting close to the 11 o'clock hour.  Earlier in the morning I helped serve communion at Peachtree Road UMC, and in good circuit preacher fashion I drove 40 minutes to Campbellton for their morning service.  I inched forward in my car and eventually witnessed the hold up: numerous police directing traffic around six overturned vehicles which had recently been extinguished from flames.

Immediately I began to pray.

A few hours before, I had woken earlier than usual and prayed that God would work through me and despite me, and that feelings of inadequacy in my preaching would be met with the Holy Spirit.  I further acknowledged that on my own I was completely incapable of changing people's lives in the congregation.

Looking at the wreckage in the intersection changed the focus of my prayers.  "God, if people from this congregation are dead in this car wreck I cannot handle being the preacher in this church today.  You know I haven't had training for this type of thing and there's a large chance I will say or do the wrong thing.  I desperately need your help.  Amen"

After my prayer and a long while of creeping through traffic I pulled into the parking lot and a leader from the church greeted me.  I introduced myself and told him how sad it was that there had been such a tragic accident.

He laughed.

"All that?  That's a scene from a new Zombie TV show they're filming today."  I laughed a little bit too -- mainly in disbelief and in order to release some of my stress.

Once inside I tried to relax as I was introduced to various members of the congregation.  One lady said, "Preacher?  You're not the preacher today.  We lined up someone else whose name is already in the bulletin."  The man who was escorting me around looked a little uncomfortable and confused.   I'm sure I looked similar.

I stepped back and let them handle this situation.  Eventually the man told me there had been some miscommunication in the congregation and they decided that I should go ahead and preach that day in lieu of a preach-off.  At this point in the story I like to think that my first impression struck them so deeply that they decided to bump the other guy out.  But realistically they knew it would be harder for me to get back out to their church, my whole family was there, and I was sixty years younger than the other preacher.

So we worshiped, God's Word was proclaimed, and ultimately He was glorified.  And in the end I was simply thankful no one was dead.

Click here to download an mp3 recording of my sermon or listen on the player below.   Heads up - it is a low quality recording from my Blackberry, but I like the way it sounds similar to an old time Gospel hour on AM radio.

An Encounter with Christ - Luke 7:11-17

“Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."  - Mark 10:14

When I graduated 5th grade a funny thing happened at church: I could roam freely and not feel like I was confined to the "children's wing" of the building anymore.

Along with this new found freedom I moved from The New Adventure Bible to the Student's Life Application Bible, joined the youth group, began to go on local mission trips, participated in a small group bible study, and  started the routine of regularly wearing deodorant.  This is the ritual at many churches.  Perhaps that is why I was so surprised to see families (parents and children of all ages) acting missionally together last week at one of Peachtree Road UMC's Family Fun Nights.

Family Fun Night sounds like it is a Wednesday night activity for families to come together and be entertained at the church rather than at Chuck E. Cheese.  Yet it is far from this.  At my first Family Fun Night I witnessed and joined in with 20+ families who were packing backpacks of school supplies for Atlanta City School children who would otherwise be without them in the fall.

Instead of having the kids play tag while the parents served, the kids served alongside with their parents (and we all played Bingo later).  An assembly line was formed and the kids counted out and put one glue, one ruler, one pack of markers, one box of crayons,  one pencil sharpener, and five pencils in each backpack.  It wasn't hard and it wasn't complicated.  These kids were participating in the body of Christ and being formed as disciples engaged in the transformation of the world.

Sometimes crazy stuff happens when you let kids out of the "children's wing."

What are some ways your church helps children participate in the life of the community?

At 3:00 last Wednesday my Field Education advisor, Thomas, and I found ourselves breathing quickly as we rushed from the parking lot to the newborn wing of Northside Hospital. A member of the church had been admitted in anticipation of giving birth at any moment. After asking around we found the hospital room she was supposed to be in and saw that it was empty. The nurse cleaning the room informed us that the lady had just gone into the operating room for a caesarean section and that the mother's parents would likely be in the waiting room down the way.

We kept our brisk pace and broke the threshold of the waiting room door while looking around to determine which couple in the room was the soon to be child's grandparents. After a moment of asking around we found the grandparents in the back corner and they immediately rose to greet us.

That is when I saw the look on their face.

Were these two well-dressed men from the hospital?
We informed them we were from their daughter's church.

Why were people from the church coming to talk to us during the middle of the surgery?
We informed them that we were there to celebrate the birth of their grandchild with the family.

Relief quickly washed upon their faces.

In the future I will try and be more aware of the level of importance that body language, demeanor, and approach can have in the midst of such situations. I now have a good set of questions to ask some of the ministers here about visiting those in need, and I'm looking forward to pastoral care classes which I will take one day at Duke Divinity. In the mean time, I am thankful for Field Education which is serving its purposes well as I learn valuable lessons and am able to share the love of Christ to those in the midst of joy and pain in Atlanta.

I have been asked to blog about my Field Education experience at Duke Divinity School on the school's official Field Ed blog and I'll be cross-posting my entries here as well.  If you have any questions about my experience, topics I should discuss, etc. please pass them along.

Psalm 113:3, "From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD's name is to be praised."

It is only right, with all the powers of our heart and mind, to praise You Father and Your Only-begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ:

Dear Father, by Your wondrous condescension of loving-kindness toward us, Your servants, You gave up Your Son.

Dear Jesus You paid the debt of Adam for us to the Eternal Father by Your Blood poured forth in loving-kindness.

You cleared away the darkness of sin by Your magnificent and radiant Resurrection.

You broke the bonds of death and rose from the grave as a Conqueror.

You reconciled heaven and earth.

Our life had no hope of eternal happiness before You redeemed us.

Your Resurrection has washed away our sins, restored our innocence and brought us joy.

How inestimable is the tenderness of Your love!

Gregory the Great's Easter Prayer

“Father, I want to know you, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys.  I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from you the terror of parting.  I come trembling, but I do come.  Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that you may live there without rival.  Then shall you make the place of your feet glorious.  Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for you will be the light of it, and there shall be no night there.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

The next few days I thought about this prayer, but I made no progress towards actually living it out.

Weeks later I had effectively forgotten about this prayer until Dr. Lauren Winner announced to our Christian Spirituality class that we were going to have to participate in a technology fast.  I wrote down the first three words that came to my mind when Dr. Winner announced that we were having to fast from email, Twitter, Facebook, text messages, and carrying our cell phones.  The words were stressed, impossible, and ludicrous.  I immediately Tweeted about the assignment, and some folks responded by saying that this task was impossible and that I should drop the class.  These thoughts had already crossed my mind.  Before this assignment the longest time I had gone without checking email was for seven days during a ninth grade mission trip.  However, after getting my first smart phone in July I completely understood the term Crackberry and I had become one of those people I used to love to hate.

Part of my proud nature was excited to be tested so that I could brag about the experience to my tech-savvy friends (Exemplified here).  However, I was also scared to turn everything off because I knew it would be difficult and I thought that others would desperately need to connect with me during the week through the technologies I was giving up.  As soon as I replied to my final email, updated Twitter and Facebook with a fasting announcement, and sent my last text message I began to panic and question whether I could make it seven days.  I turned to God, as I had recently learned we should do in times of fasting, and I prayed for strength and endurance.

Over the next week I had many dreams at night about checking my email.    I felt like I was missing out on activities and community that were being organized by the communication technologies that I desperately desired.  I felt disconnected.  Each morning was a struggle as I consciously avoided jumping into my computer chair and performing my 30 minute routine of internet engagement.  Each evening was a struggle as well as my phone alerted me to new text messages that I could not read.

But in the midst of these negative feelings, I began to notice a peace that seemed to accompany me throughout the day.  I no longer checked my phone before, during, and after each class or felt the need to find the nearest computer to check my email.  Instead, I found myself lingering in the classroom and conversing with others who I rarely saw otherwise.  This led me to hear about some social gatherings that were being organized, and it created space in which relationships with new classmates began to grow.  Further, I did not feel the burden to constantly know what was occurring in the world and my life seemed to almost become more productive as I was able to read, write, and reflect without constantly being distracted.

Seven days after the fast began, I slowly eased out of it.  First, I checked the text messages on my phone.  I received twelve throughout the duration of the week.  To my surprise and slight disappointment, none of them regarded urgent matters.  Next, I logged onto some social media websites and found that I had six Facebook notifications and zero Twitter replies.  Finally, I opened up my email and found 99 messages.  It took no more than three hours to go through them all, and only one message was in need of an immediate response.  After I alerted everyone that I was once again online, I took some time to update my journal in regards to my thoughts and emotions at the completion of the fast.

Things I learned:

• I began to realize that I derived a great deal of affirmation, self-purpose, and gratification from communication technologies on a regular basis.  Each morning, instead of logging on to find an email with a question that only I could answer, or a notification that twelve people liked my latest status update, I was not exactly sure what to do.  Many days on the fast I spent time in morning prayer or reading a devotional, but on others I felt like I was going to simply begin another difficult day of school without others alongside of me.  I missed feelings that I learned could only be partially fulfilled by communication technologies, yet fully fulfilled by God.  Throughout the week I found these false securities being slowly uprooted as I was reminded by time spent in prayer and the Bible that God was my source of self-worth, purpose, joy, and peace.
• I relied heavily on relationships sustained by communication technologies to provide support and encouragement as I made the life transition to graduate school.  I missed the emails from college fraternity brothers and the encouraging text messages from random friends.  Yet in the absence of these relationships, I began to realize that I had not been diligent about developing close relationships with other students in the Divinity school.  After reading Dean Jones’ article about Facebook, I was reminded that my social networking relationships could not serve as replacements for authentic friendship here at Duke and that what I truly longed for on a day to day basis was personal intimacy.
• I also found that God spoke most powerfully in my life during silence and uninterrupted times alone in prayer, waiting, and study.  The mornings and evenings where I turned to God instead of my computer refreshed and renewed me in a way that I had not anticipated.
• The church should embrace social media but also address issues rampant in contemporary culture that are often supported by it.  The instant gratification, sense of fulfillment, and sense of worth that are easily gained from social media technology are just a few characteristics that have serious implications for our relationships with God and with others.  If the church attempts to engage the broader culture, yet does not explain how the message of Christ stands distinct from the values of contemporary culture, then a generation will arise that sees the church as possibly interesting, but largely irrelevant.

I still get out of bed and desire to immediately log on to the computer, and I check my phone constantly between classes.  Yet, in the midst of all of this, I try and remember Tozer's prayer which asks that God would continue to root out all the things in my heart that rival him there.  Then I thank him for the reality that through Christ I am able to have constant communication with the ruler of all eternity.

I do not know of a Duke graduate who was denied ordination because he got a 3.0 rather than a 3.8. I do however know certain Duke honor graduates who were denied ordination because they came across as too arrogant.

Your grades are not a test, not a measure of your spirituality, not a measure of your calling, not a measure of whether you are fit for ministry.

When you ascend and come before the throne of judgment, our Lord is not gonna ask "What’d you make on the CH 13 final?" But he well may ask, "Did you do it for my glory our your pride?" He may say, "Did you do it to honor the gifts I gave you or did you do just enough to squeak by?"

That’s the real question.

After he spoke there were shouts of Amen by some and faces of silent conviction by others.  We all needed this reminder and I'll continue to think about it as exam time approaches.

H/T: The Beginning of Wisdom

During the past week these two questions raised at the conference have been on the forefront of my mind:

• Am I willing to submit my gifts to a bigger picture and be part of God's story or do I just want to invite God into mine?
• Do the relationships in my life get my very best, or do they get what is left over after I've given my best to all the "projects" in my life?

The most powerful moment of the weekend came in regards to the church's call to be the hands and feet of Christ.  On Friday, I witnessed an image of Christ's love in this world that shook my heart and 11,999 others.

In our world of information overload, I promise you this twenty minute video will be worth the slow down.

Are you open?  Will you join me in sponsoring a child today?

Some of  you are on twitter.  Most are not.  Those that are not probably laugh when you hear about twitter in the media and often wonder who in the world would waste time with such an invention.  Those that are on twitter think the previous sentence was absurd and are probably tired of fruitlessly explaining why they love twitter to their skeptical friends.  If you would like a better explanation about it or some responses to common objections, head on over to Michael Hyatt's blog where he addresses the top ten objections to twitter.

To the tweeters out there:

Will you join me in this idea to help proclaim God's word through twitter?

A few weeks back I posted a scripture verse on twitter and one of my friends messaged me later that day telling me how meaningful the verse was for him.  I immediately realized that if this verse reached all of my followers and was encouraging for even one of them, imagine if the twittersphere began to buzz with people sharing scriptures that had changed their lives that week.

After discussing this with some friends we were reminded of the #followfriday movement on twitter. It began with just one person and is now one of the best ways to connect with new people on twitter.

All of this is pretty simple:

1. Every Friday type your verse.  You can type it normally, use http://ref.ly to create a cool tiny url of it, use youversion.com's great interface, or anything else.  Even add thoughts with the verse if there is room.

2. Be sure and use the hashtag #followthewordfriday so that these tweets will be easily searchable and so that it may eventually become a trending topic which will lead more people to join in.

I have no agenda.  Most of us know first hand how the internet can become a stronghold for all types of sin.  I would like to see social media and the internet used for the Kingdom in any encouraging way possible.

If you think this an idea you could get on board please email this to your socialmedia minded friends, tweet some scripture on Friday, and pray that the Lord would continue to use new methods to spread an unchanging word.